Alexander macdonald



(No Model.)

A. MACDONALD.

VETERINARY SURGICAL SORAPER.

l/qhlmeowo, v gum 14 607 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER MACDONALD, OF TIIE UNITED STATES ARMY.

VETERINARY SURGICAL SCRAPER.

SYECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,013, dated January 29, 1889.

Application filed October 8, 1888. Serial No. 287,487. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER M ACDON- ALD, veterinary surgeon, United States Army, a citizen of Canada, residing at present at Fort McKinney, in the coi'int-y of Johnson and Territory of \Vyomin g, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Serapin g D evices for Gelding Horses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention refers to a device adapted for use in veterinarysurgery, and particularly of a scraper for castrating or gelding horses and other animals, the object thereof being to provide a simple, convenient, and serviceable device by means of which the spermatic artery and cord may be severed without injuring the animal; and the invention consists in the structure and arrangement of parts, substantially as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, l?igure l is a front perspective view of my improved castrating or gelding instrument. Fig. 2 isafront elevation. Fig. 3 is a rear view, and Fig. i is an enlarged crosssection.

Like letters of reference designate like parts in the different figures.

My improved scraping device for performing the operation of castrating or gelding is designed to be worn on the thumb of the person performing the operation, and to serve, as it were, as an additional thumb-nail. In order to suit it to be conveniently placed upon the thumb, I make a ban d or ferrule, A, of springsteel having its ends overlapping, as shown at B B, Fig. 3. The band or ferrule A is slightly tapered to make it conform nearer to the ordinary shape of the thumb,and the construction of overlapping ends enables it to fit thumbs of different. sizes and to be held more firmly in place when once located on the end of the thumb.

It will be noted that the band is not long enough to reach the first joint of the thumb, and hence the thumb has free and easy movement when the device has been placed thereon. The band A is provided with a cuttingedgc, a, which extends a portion of the way around the periphery of the smaller end of the band. Said cutting-edge is integral'with the band. Its construction is somewhat peculiar. It is doubly concave-that is,concavcd slightly from end to end, as will be seen by looking at Fig. 2; also, said cutter is concave from edge to edge thereof, as will be seen by inspecting Fig. AI, thus giving it in reality two cuttingedges. Moreover, these cutting-edges of the cutter partake of the curvature of the band A to a greater or less degree, according to the length of the cutter.

I preferably make this improved veterinary device of steel and all in one piece. Its use is simple and will be understood at a glance by those skilled in the art. By simply placing the scraper upon the thumb the cutting-edge will act as an additional thumb-nail, and by it the spermatie artery and the cord may be scraped until severed. Hemorrhage from the severed parts will be entirely prevented by the use of this device. It will do its work speedily and effectively, and its construction is simple and durable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

As an improvement in gelding or castrating devices, the herein-described scraper, consisting of a metallic band adapted to be placed upon the thumb and having a cutter integral therewith curved from end to end and edge to edge, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER MACDONALD.

Witnesses:

H. R. MANN, G. W. MUNKER. 

